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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 02 Hansard (Thursday, 4 March 2004) . . Page.. 782 ..

would prefer to ban fireworks as well. So I take your point: the Northern Territory would obviously still have same regime in place that it did when we spoke to the officials in 2002. However, that is it. A lot of the problems they get from fireworks come from the ACT as well.

Ms Gallagher: Or so they say.

MR STEFANIAK: So they say. This is coming from their officials, Ms Gallagher. The officials spoke to my committee and told us that. That isn’t something you can just laugh off and discount.

Ms Gallagher: I am not laughing.

MR STEFANIAK: Good. I hope you are not. It is quite a serious issue. All Mr Pratt is seeking to do is to bring us into line with the rest of Australia. You can only be tolerant I suppose for so long. Everyone has bent over backwards to try to find solutions and to ensure that law-abiding people can still have their fun on cracker night or whatever. Unfortunately, there is a point at which you think “Enough is enough”. There is a point when it is logical to follow what the rest of Australia is doing, which is what Mr Pratt is seeking to do. Neither Mr Pratt nor the opposition is taking this step lightly. Many of our members have very fond memories of and thoroughly enjoy fireworks. But there comes a time when enough is enough. Unfortunately, I think we have reached that time.

MS TUCKER (5.07): I think we know quite clearly that this amendment will not succeed as it outlaws all consumer fireworks. This position was not supported by the Assembly towards the end of last year. My position has changed over the past few years. I supported a tighter consumer fireworks regime during the inquiry of the Standing Committee on Legal Affairs, but was disappointed that the government took so long to act and called for the banning of consumer fireworks after the ongoing disruption that began around June last year. However, I believe now it would be consistent with the ACT Greens’ position, worked out about a year ago, to support the government’s belated attempt to properly regulate and control the industry on the clear understanding that this really is the last opportunity for consumers and retailers. I must admit that I would also have difficulty in supporting an amendment that included a jail sentence and a strict liability offence. The fact that this penalty can be found in this amendment leads me to the view that Mr Pratt also presumed his amendment would fail.

MS DUNDAS (5.08): The Democrats will also be opposing the amendment put forward by Mr Pratt today in relation to the ban of the sale of shopgood fireworks. We have said before—it is something that we have learnt in many other debates—that regulation and education are preferable to strict prohibition. Strict prohibition results in a black market and in unregulated industries. It doesn’t provide as much community benefit as one would first think.

The Dangerous Substances Bill put forward by the Minister for Industrial Relations puts forward a quite robust framework for dealing with the issue of fireworks and is one that the Democrats support. We do have a very clear policy on that. Prohibition isn’t the way to go. We want to support the public desire to continue to have access to fireworks over the June long weekend, but we want to do that in the safest way possible. A complete

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